New ‘golden’ potato delivers a bounty of vitamins

Mark Failla, faculty emeritus of human nutrition, co-led a study with Italian researchers to create a yellow-orange lab-engineered potato. Failla’s lab simulation of the digestive process showed a serving can provide as much as 42 percent of a child’s recommended daily intake of vitamin A and 34 percent of recommended vitamin E.

Vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children. Vitamin E protects against conditions associated with damage to nerves, muscles, vision and the immune system. Failla said “hidden hunger” – deficiencies in micronutrients – has been a persistent problem in many developing countries, and the golden potato may be one answer.